


I Already Knew

by JeweloftheNight



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Other, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-02 17:45:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6576271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeweloftheNight/pseuds/JeweloftheNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karen pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked up slowly, trying to decide what to say.</p><p>“I already knew,” He said. “I knew before I met you. The way I look at it, it didn’t change anything so there was no point in bringin’ it up and makin’ you feel bad about your past.”</p><p>But for her, it changed everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a snippet that popped into my head as a base for which to write this fic. This snippet will be included in Chapter 2 once I have perfected it. Just a forewarning: I am not a writer. I am an avid reader of fan fiction, especially Kastle and Tasertricks, but I have not written creatively since high school. Go easy on me. I hope I was able to speak in the voice of the characters and accurately describe these two. I felt inspired, so I just decided to write. I hope you all enjoy this! I WILL be adding more.

Karen Page had a secret. Or so she thought. When she left Vermont, she had made the decision to leave behind her old life and start fresh. It was a curious thing, how the sting of old wounds could fade into the background so easily when there was no immediate reminder of her past, and when she left her entire life 350 miles away. But that is what she did. She kept her head down and worked hard at her first job in the city, a secretary for a company called Union Allied in the notorious Hell’s Kitchen. When she was drugged and framed for the murder of her coworker Daniel Fisher, things began to change. Somehow, things were never as bad as they were back in Vermont because she was stronger now. And because she had Matt and Foggy by her side. If she was able to boldly leave behind her harrowed past, she should be able to make it on her own here. She was shaken the most when she was forced to kill a man in self-defense, but once again, these things have a way of fading to the background when life promises the one thing it can to those who are still living- it goes on. She still carried each and every secret from her past with her. Her secrets just weren’t written all over her face for others to see. Matt and Foggy didn’t know these things about her. She kept her past distant enough from them that they both had a picture of who she was to them – Their sweet, caring, and morally upstanding assistant and friend. And briefly for Matt – more than a friend. She felt that the way they saw her was the way that they needed her to be. It was the way that she was content with appearing to them until she met The Punisher. Her world had been turned upside down when she met Frank Castle. She was just beginning to grapple with the feelings she had for him when he left her life.

“I’m already dead.” She heard his words in her dreams at night. She awoke to the image of him standing on the roof, her heart pounding when she realized how often he visited her subconscious.

Each morning she woke up and got ready for work, transformed herself into a person who did not have night terrors, a person who did not have a hole left in her heart by something that never quite was, and never could be.

On this particular Thursday, she did the same thing she always did. She hit snooze on her alarm twice, and when the clock read 7:32 she finally swung her legs over the bed and padded to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face, taking care to wash off yesterday’s makeup. She dressed for work and twisted her hair up in a loose bun.

She had gotten into the habit of driving Ben’s car to work. She didn’t feel safe walking home in the dark anymore, and more often than not she did not leave work until well after dusk. This morning, when she started the car she glanced over at the cassette tape laying in the passenger seat. It had remained there since the day that she took it out of the tape deck and threw it aside. It reminded her too much of Ben, and of Frank. Two people whom she cared for deeply and eventually lost. She didn’t have the heart to throw it away, because it also reminded her that at one point, she made Frank smile. At one point, he had deemed her worthy of hearing the stories of his past. At one point, he wanted so badly for her to know that she was safe that he risked his life, and pressed play on that tape deck. She turned the key in the ignition and drove off.

She worked through the day, only stopping briefly to eat a salad at her desk for lunch. At 7 PM, she shut down her computer and closed the door to her office. She walked along the hall, her heels clacking on the linoleum floor, only pausing briefly to say goodbye to Ellison.

As soon as she sat in the driver’s seat, she noticed right away that the cassette tape was missing. She turned to the left, then the right to check if she was being watched. She could hear her own heart pounding in her ears.

She thought for a moment, and slowly turned around to check the back seat.

“Ma’am. I ju-“.

She screamed in surprise, then quickly clamped her own hand over her mouth.

“Karen. I just want to talk.”

She looked at him, trembling and angry, but mostly relieved.

“I think that’s the first time you’ve ever said my name.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank warns Karen.

“Easy… You need to listen to me. I’m here to warn you about somethin’ that I think you’d want to know,” Frank said softly, “Somethin’ urgent.”  
Karen let out a sigh when she realized she had been holding her breath. Her body was still trembling, but a calm had fallen over her when she realized that Frank seemed okay. He seemed normal, or as close to normal as he could ever be. For months she had worried that something had happened to him, especially since she hadn’t seen anything on the news or heard from her sources about any local activity that seemed reminiscent of the Punisher. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had been worried that he left Hell’s Kitchen. She didn’t want to hope that he was still around because wanting a man around that she should be deathly afraid of didn’t even make sense to her.  
“Ma’am.” Frank pulled her out of her thoughts.  
Karen rested her right hand on her temple. “Hhumm, okay, okay. Frank, I just needed a moment to process this. I’m driving you back to my place so we can talk.” She peered over her shoulder. “I don’t want anyone to see us.”  
He grunted in agreement, and she started the car and drove off.  
“Your place looks different”, he sad as they entered her apartment.  
The door shut with a click behind her and she locked it.  
“No more bullet holes in the wall.” She laughed, and her breath caught nervously in her throat. “What are you doing here, Frank? Do you realize how- how worried I’ve been? Since that night that you showed up on the roof. I thought you were dead…” She trailed off.  
“Dead to you.” He said seriously.  
Karen moved closer toward him and he looked away, his right hand twitching by his side. “Ma’am, there’s somethin’ you gotta know.”  
“And what’s that?” Karen breathed out her words, sounding exasperated. Her brow furrowed as she tilted her head to the side and searched his face for any sign of emotion. He wouldn’t look her in the eye.  
“Someone doesn’t like you. What you’ve been writing about ‘em. They’ve been digging and I found out that they were digging too late in the game. Somebody knows what you don’t want ‘em to know, and they won’t keep it a secret. You really bent them out of shape with your articles and they’re ready to hit back.” Frank finally met Karen’s gaze and he saw her face go pale as she must have realized what he was referring to.  
“But… that’s impossible. No one knows I killed Wesley. No one could know about Wesley.” Karen ran her hands through her hair and down her face in exasperation.  
Frank narrowed his eyes. “I ain’t talking about Wesley. I don’t know who Wesley is. Look, maybe there’s somethin’ I don’t know about the story here. But I’m talking about the things you did back home, in Vermont.”  
Karen froze, and for the first time since they arrived at the apartment they made eye contact.  
“You know about what happened in Vermont?” She asked him, her heart beginning to speed up again. She needed to figure out right then and there whether he was referring to her brother, the lifestyle she left behind, or both. She looked at the ground, concentrating on the carpet as thoughts of the most hopeless days of her life replayed in her head. This is why she left home, to escape these memories. To escape the person she used to be.  
Karen pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked up slowly, trying to decide what to say.  
“I already knew,” He said. “I knew before I met you. The way I look at it, it didn’t change anything so there was no point in bringin’ it up and makin’ you feel bad about your past.”  
But for her, it changed everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter. More to come soon. I am new to this so feel free to add any comments at all!


End file.
